Venue and event recommendations for a user of a portable media player device

• US 10,251,021 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2015
• Issued: 04/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wildseed Mobile LLC
• Original Assignee: Varia Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Feldman, Evan, Nelson, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Lagor, Alexander
• Application Number:
  US14/860,339
• Publication Number:
  US 20160088437A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,289 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A method and system for generating by a server, a recommendation for a venue or an event of interest proximally located to an inferred current location of a user of a portable media player device. In an embodiment, a server may determine one or more media preferences for a user based at least in part on media stored on or accessed using the portable media player device of the user. The server may generate information related to the current location or a recommendation for a venue or an event of interest to the user based at least in part on the one or more media preferences and the inferred current location of the user. Once generated, the server then may communicate the recommendation (or the information) to the user, e.g. the portable media player device. Other embodiments may also be described and claimed.

Claims

1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media (NTCRM) comprising instructions written thereon, wherein execution of the instructions by one or more processors of a computer server is to cause the computer server to:

control receipt of media or information about the media, the media being stored on a portable media player device or accessed using the portable media player device;

infer one or more entertainment preferences of a user of the portable media player device based at least in part on the retrieved media, the retrieved information about the media, and a plurality of media content types of the media stored on or accessed by the portable media player device, wherein the plurality of media content types comprises textual media, image media, audio media, and video media;

access one or more sources of information about venues or events proximal to a current location of the user;

identify at least one of said venues or events as being of interest to the user based at least in part on the one or more entertainment preferences inferred by the server and the current location of the user;

generate a recommendation indicating the identified venue or event as a venue or event of interest to the user; and

control communication of the recommendation to the user.

2. The one or more NTCRM of claim 1, wherein the audio media comprises music media and podcast media.

3. The one or more NTCRM of claim 2, wherein, to generate the recommendation, execution of the instructions is to cause the computer server to:

generate the recommendation based at least in part on;

a genre of music played at the event or venue of interest and a music genre preference of the user inferred by the server based on music media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media player device;

a genre of a play or movie played at the venue or event of interest, respectively, and on a video genre preference of the user inferred by the computer server based at least in part on video media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media player device;

an exhibit genre of the event or venue of interest and on an image genre preference of the user inferred by the server based on image media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media player device; and

an attribute of a worship, cultural, community or political event or venue of interest and on a subject preference of the user inferred by the server based on podcast media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media player device.

4. The one or more NTCRM of claim 1, wherein execution of the instructions is to cause the computer server to infer the current location of the user of the media player device based on obtained location information associated with the portable media player device.

5. The one or more NTCRM of claim 4, wherein, to infer the current location, execution of the instructions is to cause the computer server to:

control receipt of the location information associated with the portable media player device or from a wireless access point through which the portable media player device has established a network connection with the computer server; and

determine a current location of the portable media player device based on the location information.

6. The one or more NTCRM of claim 4, wherein, to infer the current location, execution of the instructions is to cause the computer server to:

determine a current location of the portable media player device based on results of triangulation of signals from various wireless access points or based on known current locations of other portable media player devices in communication with the computer server.

7. The one or more NTCRM of claim 1, wherein, to control communication of the recommendation, execution of the instructions is to cause the computer server to:

control transmission of the recommendation to the portable media player device.

8. The one or more NTCRM of claim 7, wherein, to control transmission of the recommendation, execution of the instructions is to cause the computer server to:

control transmission of one or more of;

a short message service (SMS) message, an email message, a pager message, a facsimile message, or a phone call to the user.

9. The one or more NTCRM of claim 1, wherein execution of the instructions is to cause the computer server to:

obtain the media or the information about the media from a storage within the computer server;

or

control receipt of the media or the information about the media from a remote storage device.

10. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media (NTCRM) comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a portable media player device, cause the portable media player device to:

operate a media player application to access media from a local storage of the portable media player device or a remote storage;

establish a network connection with a server, the server to provide location and preference based venue or event recommendations;

control transmission, to the server, of location information associated with the portable media player device to facilitate the server in inferring a current location of a user of the portable media player device; and

control receipt, from the server, of a recommendation indicating an event or venue of interest that is proximate to the inferred current location of the user, and wherein;

the recommendation is based on one or more inferred preferences of the user and the location information,

the inferred preferences are based at least in part on the accessed media, media content types of the accessed media from among a plurality of media content types, and information about the accessed media, wherein the plurality of media content types comprises textual media, image media, audio media, and video media, and

the event or venue of interest is selected from one or more sources of information about a plurality of venues or events proximate to the current location of the user.

11. The one or more NTCRM of claim 10, wherein the recommendation is based on one or more of:

a genre of music played at the event or venue of interest and a music genre preference of the user inferred by the server based on audio media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media player device;

a theatrical or cinematography genre of the event or venue of interest and on a video genre preference of the user inferred by the server based on video media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media player device;

an exhibit genre of the event or venue of interest and on an image genre preference of the user inferred by the server based on image media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media player device; and

an attribute of a worship, cultural, community or political event or venue of interest and on a subject preference of the user inferred by the server based on audio media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media player device.

12. The one or more NTCRM of claim 10, wherein execution of the instructions is to cause the portable media player device to:

determine a current location of the portable media player device to be a global positioning system (GPS) coordinate obtained from a GPS module of the portable media player device; and

generate the location information to include the GPS coordinate.

13. The one or more NTCRM of claim 10, wherein execution of the instructions is to cause the portable media player device to:

obtain a user input indicating a current location of the portable media player device or a desired location of the portable media player device; and

generate the location information to indicate the user input.

14. The one or more NTCRM of claim 10, wherein the current location is further inferred based on a location of a wireless access point through which the portable media player device has established a network connection with the server and based on one or more previous geographic locations of the portable media player device.

15. The one or more NTCRM of claim 10, wherein, to receive the recommendation, execution of the instructions is to cause the portable media player to:

control receipt of a short message service (SMS) message, an email message, a pager message, a facsimile message, or a call, wherein the recommendation is included in the SMS message, the email message, the pager message, the facsimile message, or the call.

16. A computer server to provide location and preference based venue or event recommendations, the computer server comprising:

a communication interface to receive media or information about the media from a remote storage device, wherein the media is stored by a portable media player device or the media is remotely accessed using the portable media player device; and

one or more processors communicatively coupled with the communication interface, the one or more processors to;

infer one or more preferences of a user of the portable media player device based at least in part on the received media or the information about the media, and media content types of the media accessed by the portable media player device from among a plurality of media content types, wherein the plurality of media content types comprises textual media, image media, audio media, and video media;

infer a current location of the user of the portable media player device based on obtained location information associated with the portable media player device;

access one or more sources of information about venues or events proximal to a current location of the portable media player device;

identify at least one of the venues or events to be a venue or event of interest to the user based on the one or more inferred preferences and the current location of the portable media player device;

generate a recommendation to indicate the venue or event of interest; and

control the communication interface to send the recommendation to the portable media player device via one or more of a short message service (SMS) message, an email message, a pager message, a facsimile message, or a phone call.

17. The computer server of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are to generate the recommendation based on one or more of:

a genre of music played at the venue or event of interest and a music genre preference of the one or more inferred preferences;

a genre of a play or movie played at the venue or event of interest, respectively, and a video genre preference of the one or more inferred preferences;

a genre of painting or photo exhibited at the venue or event of interest and an image genre preference of the one or more inferred preferences; and

a denomination of religion or a historic or cultural attribute associated with the venue or event of interest and a subject preference of the one or more inferred preferences.

18. The computer server of claim 16, wherein:

the communication interface is to receive the location information from the portable media player device or from an access point through which the portable media player device establishes a network connection with the computer server; and

the one or more processors are to;

determine a current location of the portable media player device based on the location information, and infer the current location of the user based on the determined current location of the portable media player device.

19. The computer server of claim 16, wherein, to infer the current location, the one or more processors are to:

determine a current location of the portable media player device based on results of triangulation of signals from various wireless access points or based on current locations of other portable media player devices in communication with the computer server; and

infer the current location of the user based on the determined current location of the portable media player device.